James w



(-No Mbdel.) W PACKARD v BOOT 0R SHOE.

Patented Nov 21,. 1893.

E N T E] I fi 7 1%: NATIONAL UYHOGHAFKING CUMFANY, h I

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NITED STATES,

PAT NT @rnroa,

JAMES W. PACKARD,'OF- BROCKTON, MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGNOR To THE BOUVE,CRAWFORD &' COMPANY CORPORATION, OF SAME PLACE.

BOOT OR SHOE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 509,241, dated November21, 1893.

' Application filed January 6, 1893- Serial No. 45'7,465- (No model.)

T0 at whom, it may concern.-

Be it known that I,JAMEs W. PACKARD, of Brockton, in the county ofPlymouth and State of Massachusetts, have invented certain new anduseful Improvements in Boots or Shoes, of which the following is aspecification.

' This invention has for its object to provide means for supporting theside portion of the upper of a boot or shoe, meaning by side portionsthose parts of the upper which extend from the counter forward to thetoe and are united to the sole.

As boots and shoes are generally constructed", the side portions of theupper have no support except that afforded by the ordinary lining oftextile fabric, so that the said side portions are liable to becomewrinkled, so that they do not possess the desirable full and roundedappearance.

My invention consists in a boot or shoe provided with a series ofresilient filaments extending along the inner sides of the upper, thelower'ends of said resilient filaments being attached to the sole orbottom of the shoe, the springs extending upwardly from the sole andexerting an outward pressure upon the portions of the upper with whichthey are in contact, so that they prevent the side portions of the upperfrom sinking inwardly, as I will now proceed to describe;

Of the accompanying drawings, forming part of this specification: Figure1 represents a perspective view of a boot provided with my improvement,a part of the upper being broken away to show the resilient filaments.Fig. 2 representsa perspective view, showing one of the series ofresilient filaments before attachment to the boot or shoe. Fig'i 3 represents a transverse section of aboot or shoe, showing the resilientfilaments applied thereto. Fig. 4 represents an enlarged View of aportion of Fig. 3. V

The same letters of reference indicate the same parts in all thefigures.

In carrying out my invention, I apply to the side portions of the upperb of a boot or shoe, two series of filaments a, one series at each sideofthe upper, said filaments being connected at their lower ends with thesole or bottom of the shoe in any suitable way and extending upwardlyfrom the sole in contact with the inner surface of the upper, theelasticity of the filaments being such that they exert an outwardpressure upon the upper.

In practice, the filaments a are threads or strands of elasticmaterial,such as horse-hair or the vegetable fiber used in making thefabric known as-fiber cloth, said filaments being connected in a seriesby means of longitudinal threads of any suitable textile mate- 6o rial,not necessarily elastic, such as cotton. Each series of filaments istherefore composed of the transverse elastic threads or strands a, andsaid filaments are retained in place relatively to each other bysuitable longitudinal threads or filaments, the whole constituting asheet or strip a of fabric (see Fig. 2) adapted to be convenientlyincorporated into a boot or shoe.

In securing the filamentsto the boot or shoe,

I place the sheet or strip a above described between the upper b and theordinary cloth lining b (Fig. 4) and connect the said parts with thesole or bottom of the boot or shoe by any of the methods usuallyemployed in con-' the springs being free to press outwardly against theinner surface of the upper, the cloth lining I) being interposed betweenthe filaments and the wearers foot, so that no inconvenience ordiscomfort is experienced by the wearer owing to the presence of thefilaments.

I find that filaments applied and arranged as shown greatly improve theappearance of the boot or shoe, by preventing it from sagging orwrinkling along the side portions of the upper.

l. A boot or shoe, provided with resilient filaments extending along theinner sides of the upper, the lower ends of said resilient filamentsbeing attached to the sole or bottom, while their upper portions pressoutwardly on the inner surface of the upper, as set forth.

2. A boot or shoe,-provided with strips of fabricextending along theinner sides of the upper and composed of resilient transverse Intestimony whereof I have signed my filaments constituting springs andlongitudiname to this specification, in the presence of IO nal threadsor filaments connecting said two subscribing Witnesses, this 29th day ofsprings, the said strips being secured at their December, A. D. 1892.

5 lower edges to the bottom of the boot or shoe JAMES XV. PACKARD.

with the said springs extending upwardly Witnesses: from the so1e,andfree at their upper portions, E. H. FLETCHER,

as set forth. F. M. BIXBY.

